


Missing Person

by lostinlace



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:08:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3145295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinlace/pseuds/lostinlace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the events of The Newsvan, Barry finds himself in the middle of a locked room mystery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missing Person

Barry was almost finished. All he had to do was file the report last three reports to update the current case he was working on. This particular file about was a bizarre missing persons case. A woman, on the top of her career, in a flourishing start-up suddenly vanished. Her newly wed husband and family filed the missing person's report was filed within 48 hours. The missing woman, Juliet Killingsberg, gave no outward signs distress. As a COO to an online cloth import company, she kept a professional blog that hinted at great things to come in the new year, more traveling to see and invest in global partnerships, and an enthusiasm to expand. Barry had gone through her personal blog too. Her excitement about her wedding, her social life, and purchase of a new uptown townhouse seemed genuine. She was relatively healthy, and she took good care of herself. Security cameras showed her at the metro getting on the train, but she did not get off at her usual stop at Fairview and 14th. Earlier Barry had watched all of the footage for the green line from when Juliet got on until its final stop. 

How could a person disappear in an enclosed train car? He was one of the CSI who went to the crime scene, but the general public had polluted the crime scene so much, very little physical evidence could be collected. He, Joe and OhforcryingoutloudEddie along with several other detectives were all investigating this case. Joe and he were both frustrated to be assigned to this. Superspeed and the additional quiet help of Star Labs, wouldn't be much of any help unless there was a Meta involved. Barry felt the same way Joe did when his mentor flatly rolled his eyes and told Captain how much he enjoyed good old fashion police work. 

Iris was interested in this case. When he visited for lunch last week, she nearly squealed in delight when he told her about this. "A locked room mystery," she said lightly hitting him on the arm, "lucky!" Barry told her everything he found out so far to see if she would could suggest something the CCPD could use, and so he could smirk at her mowing down her food. Granted the random Caribbean food run, the chickens, their terrible poop smell, Mama Kioke feeding him till he nearly fell over, and the trip back were great, but nothing was better than watching Iris tuck her knees under and lay her head on the arm rest. She looked so cozy and comfortable. Barry walked the few steps over to her to wrap her in his wool coat.

That's when he heard it. It wasn't the fact that she said his name, although that was still good, it was how she said it. The sound and two syllables came out like a whisper the first time. The second time it was a little louder and deeper in her throat. She shifted her shoulders this time trying to find a more comfortable position in her dream. Barry almost asked her what she was thinking about to wake her up, but stopped the third time he heard his name. Se was moaning it out, before she finished she pleaded out loud, "please don't stop". Barry couldn't believe this was happening! 

When he had confessed last month, he never expected anything in return. The fact that Iris continued to speak to him was enough. No, she didn't stop there. Iris continued to be there for him and continue all the things he had fallen in love with in the first place. Since he was being honest with himself, he thought that Iris managed to implant herself even more within his life. He had no complaints and truly believed he was a lucky man to have her in his life. Then he recalled the nagging selfish thought that wouldn't behave itself and quietly sit in the corner like it was told. Could there ever be anything more on her part? he gave up on that the moment he told her he loved her. He didn't want her to feel obligated. Every time he thought that, the voice came back. He knew what the biological signs of sexual attraction were. He's seen them on Iris directed to him...while he was wearing mask. Instead of being disheartened, he was elated! Barry wasn't naive to know why Iris showed arguable outward signs of physical attraction to the Flash and not to himself outside of the mask. It was the same reason why she said yes to dating Eddie. 

Iris liked confidence. Eddie was confident enough to ask. He exuded massive amounts of confidence as the Flash. There was nothing wrong with that. In fact, he had to admit that ever since childhood, Iris's own confidence was one of the reasons why she fascinated him so much. She knew who she was, rarely felt fear, and understood her own ethical line. Barry not only loved her for that, he respected her too. 

Which brought him to his second dilemma. Iris shifted again still trying to get closer to...something. From the sounds she was making, Barry could easily guess. 

He was going to have to tell her about the Flash. He had to. Now the only problem was her job depending on her ability to follow him. Conflict of interest wouldn't even begin to describe the ethical issues at hand here. Iris moaned again. Barry walked over over to try and make her nap more comfortable. Inside the relatively cramped newsvan, he was only able to move several strands of hair away from her nose and mouth. 

By the time he woke her up, he had a little under half his lunch break left. Once he left her, he sped his way over to his own apartment. Barry knew that starting a shower and waiting for the water to get warm would take longer than the trip getting there. He tossed off his clothes before getting in, whispered a quick prayer for forgiveness to the speed gods, and thankfully took to himself. 

The heat and steam from the shower swirled around him touching away the cold from outside. It wasn't too hard for Barry to close his eyes and imagine the light touch on his body belonged to the woman he loved dearly. He could see her hair tightly coiled from the moisture of the shower, just like when they were younger. He could see himself tickling her back softly as he followed water droplet down the path they made on her back. Barry wanted her to lean into his touch. He would wrap his arms around her to kiss and touch her in places that would delight and calm her. He wanted to place his mouth along the trail of her spine from the back of her neck to the curve of her ass while cupping, kneading, teasing her supple breast. Barry wanted to feel the arch in her back as she felt the fiery tease of his fingers applied to her sensitive breasts. 

In doing so, she would open up her neck to his mouth. Barry loved Iris's neck. He loved the shape and the length. He was surprised at how patient he imagined himself being with her. He put a hand up on the wall and started to pull on himself with the other. It didn't take long for him to begin to put pressure on himself. Barry closed his eyes again to bring back Iris. He literally could not imagine being without her. He wanted to see her bite down on her plump bottom lip when he knelt in front of her. He wanted to feel her fingers through his hair when his tongue painted lush brushstrokes across her stomach. The warmth of the shower in his reality coincided with the the heat and hardening of himself in reality. It shouldn't be too long, he told himself. He felt so bad about this, but he couldn't exactly show up to work like this. A quick release and (boom) back to the normal routine. Well, almost normal. 

Barry could imagine the fine hairs that would cover parts of her and lightly letting his hand float above them and the sensation it would leave her with. He also wanted to surprise her. He wanted to nuzzle her center with his nose, and make the silliness of the show of intimate affection to make her laugh. He could feel her weight shift in his embrace as he took one knee and gently place it over his shoulder. He could see her image from this new position even with his eyes closed. Iris had her back arched and was leaning on his shower wall. The water cascaded down her leaving her slick and shiny. The were slow moving droplets of water that got caught on her breasts and nipples. Barry couldn't help it. His hands picked up speed on his erection. At this point he couldn't tell if he was using regular speed or super speed. He hadn't been this excited before. 

He quickly in took in a breathe of air. He was close, just not there yet. More thoughts of Iris overtook him. He wondered how far he could ever go with her. Barry closed his eyes and kept his grip tight. He went back to the image of Iris with her back arched, water pouring down over her, and with one knee over his shoulder while he was bent down in front of her. He wanted to smell her. He wanted to brush his nose against the soft line of thicker fuzz that covered her center. H wanted to hear her moan as he...his release came a bit earlier than he wanted it too but he wasn't going to complain. 

As long as it wasn't going to clog the drain like last time. That was not a pleasant memory. 

Barry managed to clean up before he turned unto a raisin and speed himself back into getting dressed. He was about to congratulate himself on his own greatness until he looked at his clock. 

13:04 

"DAMMIT!" 

When he stepped into the precinct, he could see Joe laughing with the Captain. Joe looked over turned just a bit to see Barry shoot him a cursory thank you glance for distracting their boss for him. Joe shook his head just a bit so Barry could see his disapproval to his lateness, then turned his attention back to the Captain without missing a beat. 

Upstairs in his lab, his current case awaited him. The lab results from Juliet's previous doctors had been delivered, along with a few other more expansive tests that were sent out to private labs. He put those aside for now and went over the photos and his notes. He spread the photos out over his clear board so he could have a panoramic view the train car, its front and back neighbors, and Juliet's normal metro stop she uses to board for work. 

Barry paced back and forth in front of the board. 

"I'm missing something," he said out loud to himself. He centered his attention on Juliet's metro stop, 4th and Menlow. He needed the closed circuit security footage of her getting on that train. He called Joe at his desk to see if he could get a warrant for the footage. Barry included the entire week's archive of that stop within a half hour of when Juliet would have arrived. 

It only took about twenty minutes before Joe peaked in on Barry to ask if he had made any progress. "Any theories," he asked. 

"Not yet. I'm trying to build a frame of reference for Juliet. I think something may have been building up to this." 

"You don't think it was random," Joe alluded while tucking his fist under his jaw and perusing Barry's board. "Do you think Juliet is where she wants to be right now?" 

"I," Barry sighed, I'm not sure yet. What about you? How are those witness statements coming along?" Barry stopped his brain for just a second so the meaning of what Joe was trying to say became clearer. "Oh my god, you have something, don't you?" Barry swung his chair over and looked at Joe like a little kid in awe. 

Joe rolled his eyes. He should be used to this by now. He should also be used to the weird shit that was going to come out of his mouth. Joe sat in the chair across from Barry and looked over to the door at the lab before he began. The last thing he wanted was an interruption. "Out of the 137 eyewitnesses on the train car and at the station who remembered seeing Juliet, and remembered her getting on the train without ever leaving, no one saw anything strange. No one was specifically looking for anything unusual, and no one was paying specific attention to her which is to be expected. That's when the normal ended and the weird pattern picked up. 82 people, both on and off the train, recalled smelling something weird." 

"What was it?" 

"A stale sugary smell." 

"Ok," Barry asked as a question. "That is weird." 

"I've seen this before, and so have you." Joe stood up and shook his head solemnly. "Let me know if you find any etholyne glychol in Juliet's previous bloodwork. I think this just turned into a homicide. By the way, I got the warrant. You come with me and Eddie to see if you can find anything else relevant when we pick up the footage." 

"I'll meet you guys there soon. Let me go over these test results first." He felt Joe squeeze his shoulder as a quiet sign of encouragement and affection before he left. Barry almost felt bad for him having to make the twenty minute drive to the train station with Eddie, alone. 

Barry was let his speed do the work while searching through the files. He was looking at Juliet's medical history. She had purchased a state backed healthcare plan about a year ago which she used for semi annual visits to her general practitioner. Barry looked through the four folders that covered Juliet's last two trips to her doctor. He couldn't believe his eyes at the doctor's notes. The doctor included pictures of Juliet's organ health from twelve months ago, to her last visit which was six weeks ago. In fact, Doctor Ju had planned on sending Juliet to a liver specialist, and included samples for the police department because she was immediately suspicious when Juliet went missing. 

Twelve months ago Juliet Killinsberg had nothing wrong with her organs. Sure her cholesterol was a bit high, but that was not unusual for an on-the-go 30 year old. Six weeks ago Juliet showed up to her check up appointment feeling better than ever, but her Doctor noticed some internal changes in her bloodwork and ordered more intensive tests for her. The test on her liver showed a growing massive network of microscopic crystals growing all over it. Barry realized just how much Joe was right. Juliet had tell tale signs of antifreeze poisoning. 

Except, Barry thought, for the growth rate of the crystals. Most people who kill other people with antifreeze, poison them slowly over a long period of time. The sugar taste of the liquid is easily hidden in things like sports drinks or juices. Barry did the calculations to see the size of Juliet's crystals should have made her too sick to move and near death if it hadn't killed her already. There was no way she should be feeling better than ever before. If anything, Barry thought, she should have been showing severe to extreme flu like symptoms. 

Unless...

Barry took another look at the dates of her medical exams. Yep, now he had something. He grabbed his wool coat and raced his way over to metro to meet up with Joe. 

Seconds later he was making himself obvious to Joe who was "listening" Eddie explain a how a meta could be involved, but Eddie essentially used magic to explain his theory. Barry had to admit, Eddie was halfway right even though he was very uncomfortable with Eddie being in on the meta secret. While he waited for them to finish, Barry found himself looking at the subway's graffiti. While in high school he never had the courage or art skills to do anything like this, but he enjoyed looking at it even deciphering it like it was a code. That's when he saw something familiar. It was a circle attached to another circle with a straight line. It stood out due to its gradient pink color. He steeped back to get a better look. 

It was a graphic representation for the molecular structure of ethelyne glychol. 

"Ahh Joe..." Both Eddie and Joe walked up to him. "I think Juliet is a meta who is dependent on antifreeze." 

Joe looked at him quizzically. "Can you verify this or be more specific?" 

Barry looked straight at Joe and said, "I have to go back to the lab," hoping Harrison would be able to give a more detailed explanation of Juliet Killinsberg. Now that he knew about Juliet, he could empathize with her. If she was out on her own, she was probably terrified. He wanted to help, but he had no idea how. 

He needed help. So naturally he wanted to turn to the one person he could always turn to when he hit a wall. Iris. 

The only problem was the pack of lies he would have to tell her. Barry was about to get frustrated until he remembered that his mask as the Flash and the frankness it afforded him. He waited until the few officers left and dashed to Star Labs to grab the costume. 

The Flash found Iris hard at work behind her computer screen in her cubical alone, thankfully. He sped to her outlet and turned off half the lights in the office which captured her attention. When she turned around, he stood in his signature stance partially hidden by the shade he created. 

"Iris West," he projected in his warbled voice. 

"Flash," she said in a breathless voice matched by an excited grateful grin. "What are you doing here?" 

"I need your help."


End file.
